Matagorda, Spring 2018

Its always bittersweet, when we leave our winter camp. The bitter part is leaving our friends while the sweetness is the traveling itch, to see new things and meet new people. As always we had our rig’s brakes checked and repacked the bearings, before hitching up and starting our trek to a favorite spot, Matagorda, Texas.

Each year we stop there for a few days of fishing and if the timing is right, watching the cattle drive across the Colorado River, (the Texas Colorado which is not the same as the western Colorado). Nearing Matagorda, we crossed the Colorado and saw that it was swollen with muddy water.

That’s not a good sign, as the fishing is usually off and this time it was no exception. We parked our rigs, we are traveling with Pam and Roy, before grabbing some frozen shrimp and mullet and heading to the fishing pier.

The pier was pretty full but we still managed to find a spot. As expected the water was muddy and the waves were a little high, both making the fishing tough. A few sheepshead had been caught, but our catch was hardhead catfish, whiting, grunts, and pinfish.

The next morning Roy went into town and discovered that there were no live shrimp! So much for the sheepshead! He did find some fresh dead shrimp, any bait is better then no bait, and we returned to the pier. I cast out a huge chunk of mullet, hoping for a big redfish or perhaps a shark.

The hardheads and crabs were biting, (the image is of a female crab with her egg mass exposed), In spite of them Roy was able to catch quite a few whiting. I sat there waiting for a bite when my big pole doubled over! Grabbing the pole I knew I had a large fish. It took off on a fast run, much like a large red. Sharks also run but their run isn’t quite as fast.

Fighting the fish in it made several long runs before we spotted it, an oversize red. Roy lowered my hoop net and I maneuvered the fish into the opening. As he started to lift the net, the rope broke, (I had been lazy and did not replace the old rope, so the net dropped into the water. I had to fight the fish to shore before lifting it up by the line, never a pleasant task when using braided line.

Securing the fish I measured it and took several images before successfully releasing the fish back into the water. Here in Texas, you are allowed to tag one oversize red, but these are the spawners and so I knew already I would release it. That was it for the second day and we never did have another pickup.

The next day the bait shop had live shrimp and I purchased a quart. Armed with a great sheepshead bait we hurried out to the pier. The water had cleared some but the waves were quite a bit higher, making the fishing even tougher. I quickly caught a keeper sheepshead and Roy netted the fish. He barely had time to put the net down before  a large fish hit his cut mullet bait.

After a nice battle, Roy brought the red in and I was able to net the fish. I really screwed up the net job as I hooked the hook in the underside of the netting. Luck was with us as a wave washed the fish into the hoop and we were able to lift the fish to the pier. It was a nice twenty-six inch slot fish.

We never did catch another keeper. I caught and released six under size sheepshead and Roy added more whiting, all destined for a fish fry in Iowa. My big catch of the day was wen I snagged my lost net and was able to retrieve it.  Running out of bait we returned just in time to watch the cowgirls and cowboys drive the cattle across the river. That's for another post. Clear skies